**** Health / Wellness Release
Suicide Crisis Helpline 9-8-8 Launches
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Nova Scotians thinking about attempting suicide or worried about someone else who may be thinking about suicide now have another place to turn to for help.
The new 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline provides urgent, live, trauma-informed support by phone and text 24 hours a day, every day of the year. As of today, November 30, it is available in every province and territory in Canada.
“From the very beginning, Nova Scotia has been a champion for an easy to remember, three-digit number for Nova Scotians to call or text when they are in a crisis,” said Brian Comer, Minister of Addictions and Mental Health. “The launch of the new line provides Nova Scotians another place to turn when they need help. This builds on the many mental health and addictions resources available in our province, including our 24/7 mental health and addictions crisis line and our mental health and addictions intake service.”
The 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline, available across the country, is funded by the Government of Canada, managed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and delivered through mental health partners in provinces and territories.
Staff from Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health and the Office of Addictions and Mental Health have been active participants in the planning and launch of 9-8-8.
People who call or text 9-8-8 can communicate with trained crisis responders in either English or French. The new line will also help streamline access to other national resources. For example:
— through 9-8-8, Indigenous people will also be able to access the Hope for Wellness Helpline, which provides immediate, non-judgmental, culturally competent and trauma-informed emotional support, crisis intervention or referrals to community-based services
— children and young adults in Canada in need of mental health supports and crisis services will also be able to connect with Kids Help Phone.
Nova Scotians can continue to access the provincial mental health and addictions crisis line toll-free at 1-888-429-8167, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for themselves or someone they are concerned about. The provincial crisis line connects Nova Scotians to trained clinicians and is available to anyone across the province. The 9-8-8 service is intended to provide an additional, three-digit option.
Quick Facts:
— an average of 12 people die by suicide every day in Canada
— calls and texts to 9-8-8 are confidential – no personally identifiable information will be disclosed or shared outside of the 9-8-8 network, except as required or permitted by law, or in cases where emergency intervention is required for a person’s safety and well-being
— Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) and the Hope for Wellness Helpline (1-855-242-3310) will retain their existing toll-free numbers should Nova Scotians wish to contact them directly
Additional Resources:
For non-crisis support, people needing treatment and care for mental health and addictions can contact the mental health and addictions intake service at 1-855-922-1122 to be matched with appropriate services
Mental health services in Nova Scotia: https://novascotia.ca/mental-health-and-wellbeing/
Action for Health, the government’s plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth/
Mandate letter for the Minister of Addictions and Mental Health: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-CNS-AMH-Youth.pdf
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More Long-Term Care Rooms for Musquodoboit Valley
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More seniors in the Musquodoboit Valley and surrounding communities will have access to needed long-term care with a new, expanded facility.
The Musquodoboit Valley Home for Special Care (Braeside) will be replaced with a 48-room facility, providing care for an additional 19 seniors. The new home is expected to open in 2032.
Tom Taggart, MLA for Colchester North, on behalf of Barbara Adams, Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care, made the announcement today, November 30.
“Most Nova Scotians want to live and age in their own homes as long as possible. But if or when the need for more care and support arises, Nova Scotians and their families can have the peace of mind knowing that state-of-the-art nursing homes, staffed with the highest levels of care, will be available to them in our communities,” said Mr. Taggart.
The new home is part of the recent addition of 2,200 rooms to the Province’s long-term care infrastructure plan. This plan expansion includes new long-term care homes that will add about 800 rooms to the long-term care system and the replacement of older homes with new, modern facilities that will have about 1,400 rooms. All of these new homes are expected to be ready by 2032. The original plan included homes with about 3,500 rooms expected to be ready by 2027. Together, these new spaces will help to meet the care needs of the province’s aging population.
All new living spaces will be single rooms, each with its own private washroom. The government is contracting with several long-term care providers for new facilities and to replace existing ones.
More announcements about locations of new and replacement rooms will take place in the coming weeks. Information and progress updates on all 5,700 rooms are available at: https://novascotia.ca/long-term-care-rooms-progress-updates
Building and improving more long-term care rooms is part of Action for Health, the Province’s strategic plan to improve healthcare. Building and renovating new facilities with single-bed rooms and ensuring seniors live with dignity and can age well are also commitments in the Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister’s mandate.
Quotes:
“This investment in infrastructure will provide staff and volunteers the space to provide the excellent care they strive to provide each and every day. The expansion of beds will have a wonderful impact on accessibility to care for the Musquodoboit Valley and surrounding communities and the system at large.”
– Tara Rutherford, Health Service Manager, Musquodoboit Valley Home for Special Care
Quick Facts:
— the long-term care infrastructure plan was announced in January
— current wait lists for long-term care spots vary across the province; as of November 15, there were just over 1,700 people waiting at home for placement in long-term care
— of those waiting at home, more than 70 per cent receive home care
— seniors make up close to 22 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population; this is expected to climb to more than 25 per cent by 2032
— the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment, Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care, and the continuing care sector are working together to recruit the staff needed to support the delivery of care that will be required for these new rooms
Additional Resources:
News Release – Province Adding, Replacing More Long-Term Care Rooms: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20231120001
News release – First Long-Term Care Replacement Home Opens: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20230929006
News release – Construction Beginning on Long-Term Care Homes in Central Zone: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20230517001
News release – Province Building More Long-Term Care Rooms: https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20230111001
Action for Health, the government’s plan for transforming the healthcare system: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth
Mandate letter for the Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-SLTC.pdf
